Medical endoscopes have been widely used in both diagnostic and surgical procedures. A promising technique for detecting a lesion in a living body during endoscopic procedures involves near infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging, in which NIR light is used to illuminates tissue, exogenously applied fluorophores in the tissue emit fluorescence, and an imaging system captures a fluorescent image. In addition to fluorescence imaging, normal diagnostic and surgical procedures utilize endoscopy with conventional visible light imaging.
Despite the progress made in the field of endoscopy, there is a need in the art for a system incorporating visible light endoscopy and NIR fluorescent endoscopy.